Draft shield arrangements have the purpose to ensure that air drafts do not compromise the weighing result in precision balances. To perform this function, draft shield arrangements normally have a floor, side walls and a top cover, with the side walls and/or the top cover normally being designed so that they can be opened in order to put the weighing object in place. To perform the weighing function, the load-introducing member is designed to also reach into this draft shield arrangement and is then provided with a receiving element for the weighing object, for example a weighing pan.
A balance of the kind described above is presented in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,566,614. There, the draft shield arrangement can be set on the balance housing, whereupon a sliding latch is moved which makes a solid connection between the balance housing and the draft shield arrangement. A sliding latch of this kind has the disadvantage that it involves a complicated mechanism which has to be accommodated in the floor plate of the draft shield arrangement. The mechanism requires a guiding constraint for the sliding latch which allows a sliding movement and also securely holds the sliding latch, and it is further necessary to provide the sliding latch as well as the topside of the housing with suitable locking elements. This mechanism, in particular the guiding constraint for the sliding latch, is difficult to clean and has to be taken apart for a thorough cleaning. Furthermore, due to the thickness of the floor of the draft shield arrangement, the overall height of the balance is increased, which makes the balance less user-friendly and affects the operating ergonomics of the balance unfavorably in particular with regard to the access to the weighing pan.
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a simple and easy-to-clean fastening arrangement for the draft shield arrangement of a balance of the kind described above while keeping the overall height as low as possible.